Ask Yourself Three Questions

I was up before dawn this morning, which sounds virtuous but is getting quite easy to do at this time of year. A thought hit me… Assuming that I live to be 80, which might be a bit optimistic depending on how many sticky toffee puddings I eat, I should have another 306 race-days to enjoy at Cartmel.  

I hope that someone else will be in charge by then, because I doubt I’ll be able to keep up with our Clerk of the Course (Anthea Morshead) when she walks the track. The only thing is: 306 doesn’t seem very many does it? 

We’re busy planning now for next season and experience tells me that we’ll get to March and then it’ll all be over like a flash: I’ll only have 297 left. Now I don’t want to get gloomy about this, Cartmel race-days are a joy and I won't benefit from counting them down as if they’re the last biscuits in the tin. It’s just that knowing there are so few makes it all the more important that we appreciate them to the full.   

With this in mind, I need you to ask yourself these three questions: Have I bought myself an annual members badge yet? Have I blocked off all the race dates in my diary?  Have I invited all my friends and family to come along too?

And when it comes to race-day, it’s important to enjoy every live-enhancing moment as it happens: Give your parents / children / grandchildren a hug when you arrive; savour the English Lakes Ice Cream before it slips off the end of the cone and, as you pass your money to the bookmaker, don’t forget to kiss it goodbye – because you might see it again, but that would just be a bonus.

The same goes for all the big events in the calendar, like Christmas Day, Birthdays and Cheltenham Gold Cup Day. Enjoy them all, knowing that they are a finite resource – and amplify the enjoyment by getting excited in advance: Buy yourself an advent calendar, write a letter to Santa and get a tenner on Saphir Du Rheu now, before he wins the Hennessy next week.

While you’re at it, have a modest punt on this week’s selection: the outstandingly handicapped Bold Sir Brian who has been off the track a while, but should start at a big price in the Betfair sponsored Fixed Brush Hurdle, at Haydock, on Saturday.

I’m hoping that I’ll see at least another 34 Grand Nationals and I’m delighted to be able to give you the winner for the 2021 race now. His name is Sky Lino and, trained by Nick Williams, he appeared in a Juvenile Hurdle at Bangor last week.

Having lost his jockey and galloped an extra mile before the race, the massively framed gelding pulled like a train – all the way to the second last hurdle, where he eventually tired and finished second. At some point during the next six years, I’m sure he’ll learn to chill, enjoy the moment and stay four and a half miles.

No Product Placement Here

Is there anything more satisfying, after a chill Winter’s day at the races, than a Cartmel Sticky Toffee Pudding? A spoonful of comfort and warmth, mingled with the distant memory of a Summer afternoon spent on a picnic blanket in the centre of Cartmel Racecourse.

That’s one of the many things that I love about Winter – like settling down to watch Ski-Sunday with a glass of Louis Roederer Champagne and a small dish of Morecambe Bay Potted Shrimps from Furness Fish & Game. 

Fortunately, here at Cartmel Racecourse, these things are fairly close to hand. But fear not… if you don't have a fully stocked cupboard at home, you can now order a bottle of Louis Roederer Champagne or a Cartmel Sticky Toffee Pudding to be delivered, together with your annual membership badges, in time for Christmas.

The Cartmel Annual Membership badge admits the holder to all nine Cartmel race-days (including free parking on those days) as well as 44 other specified events at other racecourses throughout Britain and Ireland. It makes a great Christmas gift and is a bargain at just £130.

If you have nothing to drink Champagne out of, you could always purchase one of our Cartmel branded “Handsome Beast” or “Fine Filly” mugs – also suitable for tea, coffee or hot chocolate. Simply call the racecourse office, before 14th December, to order yours now for Christmas

Need more gift ideas for your racing obsessed friends? A couple of recently published books have just dropped through the blog's letterbox for review, both of them captivating and lengthy enough to keep a spouse quiet until the end of Boxing Day (or longer, assuming they stop to watch the racing from Kempton).

Beckhampton – the men and horses of a great racing stable  - is by Paul Mathieu, probably the most eloquent racing historian in the business. If you’ve ever wondered whether Frankel was really the best racehorse in history (and if he wasn't which horse might have been), or how it happened that King George VI came to own the winners of four Classic races during the middle of the Second World War, this is the book for you. It’s available now from Racing Post books.  

Alternatively (or perhaps additionally), if you want to know what goes on inside a horse's head, then you need a copy of Marten Julian’s Strictly Classified. Marten has spoken to many, perhaps most, of the World’s top horsemen to find out what makes their minds tick in synchronicity with their equine companions. The result is a fascinating insight into the world of racehorse training; sometimes funny, sometimes sad, but always enlightening. 

 

If you’ve never come across Marten Julian before, you should know that he also produces an annual publication entitled Dark Horses, detailing dozens of little known horses which are soon to become big race winners. He doesn't mention Sausalito Sunrise in this year's edition - which is a shame because he's my selection at Cheltenham on Saturday.

 

Please note, the above items have been tried, rigorously tested and approved by the Cartmel office staff. Unfortunately we can't promise to mention every product that is sent for the blog-spot's attention...

 

Next week : Fine whiskies & super-cars.  Anyone?

 

All Change

I only went away for ten days. Even so, I feel lucky to have found my way safely back to the racecourse after the continental plates of racing shifted while I was on holiday. 

The first clue that something odd was happening was when I read that Frankie Dettori (the Italian born flat-racing jockey, who lives in England) had been penalised for his riding on Max Dynamite (trained by the Irish Jumps Champion Willie Mullins) in the Melbourne Cup, Australia. Weird, I know. They finished second. 

But in even more ground-breaking events, the Racecourse Association voted in favour of signing a document called the Members’ Agreement alongside the British Horseracing Authority and the Horsemen’s Group (who represent owners, trainers, breeders, jockeys and stable staff). The agreement sets out for the first time, in black and white, how decisions affecting the industry should be made between the three parties. 

 

It may all sound terrifically dull to the casual racegoer, but the agreement creates a framework for the key stakeholders to make the industry better… A bit like taking a bunch of random musicians and giving them all a copy of the same musical score. At Cartmel we might be compared to the guy holding the triangle at the far back corner of the stage, but even so, we look forward to receiving our sheet music.

 

It’s just as well that the sport is pulling together because, in less earth-shattering news, the Levy Board failed to agree a structure for the betting industry’s financial contribution to horse racing as part of the next levy scheme. While the proportion of profits paid by bookmakers with high-street betting shops is reasonably well established, the amount paid by online operators based overseas is not: some are willing to contribute, others only want a free ride. 

 

Part of the BHA’s plan to create Authorised Betting Partners is to encourage punters to play only with bookmakers that play fair with racing - and avoid those that avoid paying the levy. The plans are already being questioned by Paddy Power, which suggests that they are one of those bookmakers that resent paying a fair price for the product. If you’re not sure what to back this Saturday, I’m going to suggest that you keep an eye on Creepy at Kelso.

 

Closer to home, events have conspired to change the Cartmel landscape forever - following the death of two members of our race-day team. Both Bruce Lodge and Robin Webster were aware that they had terminal illnesses, but both insisted on reporting for duties at Cartmel throughout the racing season. A large contingent of Bruce’s friends and colleagues will be gathering at the Grandstand this afternoon (Friday) to drink to his memory and tell stories – of which there will be many.

 

Apparently Bruce’s only regret was that he’d have preferred to have died beneath the hooves of one of the loose horses he caught occasionally at Cartmel. While there are many wonderful things that I would have wished for Bruce, I’m altogether quite relieved that he didn’t get his way.

The Big Betting Freeze

While the mild Autumn in Cumbria is already helping to mend the scars inflicted on the turf by our recent drainage works, there is a distinct chill settling in London. Ladbrokes are offering odds of just 7/1 about a white Christmas – presumably because of the frosty atmosphere hovering over the offices of the British Horseracing Authority in Holborn. 

The BHA announced on Tuesday that all bookmakers, accepting bets on British racing, will be required to pay a levy or similar voluntary payment in order to become an Authorised Betting Partner of British racing. We don’t yet know exactly what the benefits of being an authorised partner will be – but one of the drawbacks of declining the partnership scheme is that it will become more difficult to generate publicity through race sponsorship. 

Jockey Club Racecourses and ARC Racecourses have signalled that they will not agree to any new deals with non-partner bookmakers. I wonder if their sponsorship departments have already tied up all the major sponsorship contracts that would have terminated in the near future. That’s certainly what I would have done if I’d known an announcement of this nature was heading down the line. 

Cartmel benefits from sponsorship agreements with three betting operators and, needless to say, they are all vital to the development of our race programme. Betfair has already been acknowledged as an Authorised Betting Partner and their support for Cartmel is underwritten by a recognised grass-roots funding programme.  

Betfred (incorporating the Tote) and Coral, the other two bookmakers to sponsor here, support our most valuable races - including a number of relatively new Class 2 and 3 events. Both organisations are contributors to the £4.5 million additional voluntary contribution (AVC Fund), which has boosted prize money for races, throughout Britain, down to sixth place and beyond this year. Negotiations to develop this scheme, or similar ones, will hopefully result in their securing partner status too. 

To some observers the latest developments will appear as a provocative action against some of racing’s biggest customers: Pay up – or else we’ll cut off our nose to spite both our faces. But the key lies in the word partner: For bookmakers are racing’s most natural and potentially beneficial partners; it makes sense for us to work together.

And while some bookmakers pay a voluntary contribution based on revenue from their digital platforms, others are getting a free ride altogether – paying nothing for the privilege of using our product while freely promoting their services throughout British racing. 

There are bound to be some sensitive discussions ahead of the 1st January deadline. Nick Rust (the BHA Chief Executive), who has first hand experience of life in the top echelons of the betting industry, will be attempting to convince his old pals at Ladbrokes and Coral that it makes sense to put some distance between themselves and the non-contributors.

I won't be taking 7/1 about a white Christmas (our weekly selection is Karezak at Cheltenham this weekend). I hope there'll be a thaw in relations in time for the Coral sponsored Welsh National at Chepstow on 27th December. 

My Week - Coneygree

(as imagined by Jonathan Garratt)

Monday
I had a nice Summer break thanks. But now it’s all work, work, work. Have you ever noticed how, even when you win a Gold Cup, you’re hardly ever allowed to eat out of it?

Apparently I’m too fat anyway – for every bowl of oats I have to do an extra gallop. I’m supposed to be getting fit for my first outing of the season, which could be at Carlisle on 1st November. It’s one of those graduation races which means that, even though I’m the best horse in the country, most of the other good horses won’t be allowed to run because it’s only for horses in their first or second season over fences.

Tuesday

It’s in the media today... They (the boss and other humans) want to win another Gold Cup, but this time it’s got to be a Hennessy one – like the one Carruthers (my half brother) won a few years ago at Newbury. You can fit a lot more oats in it.

Wednesday

The nice people from Jockey Club Racecourses have been in touch to ask why I’m not trying to scoop their million pound bonus for winning the Betfair Chase, King George VI Chase and Cheltenham Gold Cup in a single season. It’s very kind of them, but really – oats are all I need.

Thursday

Apparently you can buy a lot of oats for a million pounds, we might enter that race at Haydock after all.

Don Cossack is running at Punchestown today. The bookies make him 8/1 for the 2016 Cheltenham Gold Cup, the same price as me - Neighhhh. I’m more worried about Vautour – he’s just 4/1 for the Gold Cup and he’s only had three runs over fences. I hope he doesn’t turn up at Carlisle. Perhaps he won't know where it is. Come to that, does anyone know where Carlisle is?

Friday

I’ve been told that Carlisle is just a bit further north than Cartmel – I’ve always wanted to visit Cartmel; could someone tell the boss?

Saturday

Never mind the million pound bonus for winning three major races with a combined distance of nearly ten miles, the horses at Ascot today don’t have to jump any obstacles and are competing for more than four million pounds. And get this: some of them don’t even have to run a whole mile!

As the boss says, it’s not all about the money – it’s the romance that counts… and the oats.

Sunday

We all won loads of money when Clever Cookie won the stayers race at Ascot yesterday, so I’m going to buy some more oats. Clever Cookie is trained by Peter Niven who is probably more familiar with Carlisle than Ascot, but he was tipped in the Cartmel blog-spot – so we dived in. Nice place Cartmel. Hope to visit one day…

Superheroes of Turf Supervision

Congratulations to the team at Huntingdon Racecourse, who have won the Jumps Racecourse Ground Staff of the Year Award for the second time in three years, narrowly pushing Cartmel and Worcester into the joint runners-up position.

Well done! And no hard feelings at all. Honestly. I have almost, nearly, completely forgotten the day (back in 1988) when the gate-staff at Huntingdon charged me twice for admission on the same day – once on arrival and a second time after mistakenly visiting the centre of the course, without a pass-out ticket, to watch the first race. If anyone from Huntingdon reads this, I reckon I’m owed about £33.25 including compound interest at 5% per annum over 27 years – but really, it’s nothing. Forgotten already! Congratulations with the award and all that… 

Gary Sharp (the Head Groundsman at Cartmel) and his team are justifiably proud to have been commended by the judges – who included representatives from the BHA’s racecourse inspectorate, the National Trainers’ Federation and the sponsors Pitchcare. Gary runs a small team, consisting of just one other full time groundsman, Martyn Fogg, and several dedicated seasonal workers and local contractors. Together they have worked hard to prepare the track to ever-improving standards. 

The fruits of their labour have been evident this Summer: a season in which we staged more days racing than ever before; introduced a new 2-day June meeting; hosted a record number of runners on the track and welcomed the highest rated horses ever to grace the Cartmel turf. The obstacles were so beautifully presented that, from 467 starters, we witnessed just five fallers and nine unseated riders during the entire season. The track really did look as good in advance of the final meeting, in August, as it did prior to the first race-day in May.

While Cartmel might not be the shortest circuit in the country, the nature of the track means that each horse traverses the south bend between two and four times in each race. That means that the equivalent of 1,193 horses went around the bend within the 99 day duration of our short season. That’s a lot of divots to repair and there’ll be even more next year when we have nine race-days - which makes me think that Gary could soon acquire superhero status... Which probably means that the team at Huntingdon are already superheroes; perhaps they’ve recruited the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, or the X-Men, in disguise? 

Either way, it sheds new light on the true identity of our own hard-working Clerk of the Course who also supervises activities at Kelso and York (where this weekend’s selection is Gracious John in the Rockingham Stakes).  

As well as being associated with our runner-up award for the best Jumps grounds-team, she can also claim a jewel in her tiara for her efforts at York Racecourse, the much deserved winners of this year’s Flat Racecourse Ground Staff of the Year Award. Step forward, that mysterious mistress of award winning turf management: Anthea “Wonder Woman” Morshead.

A Tip of Patriotic Prejudice

And all the world over, each nation's the same
They've simply no notion of playing the game
They argue with umpires, they cheer when they've won

Flanders and Swann

And they practice beforehand which ruins the fun!

So sang Flanders and Swann in their Song of Patriotic Prejudice, the chorus to which modestly opines: The English, the English, the English are best; I wouldn’t give tuppence for all of the rest. I sang it loud and proud for the first 75 minutes of last Saturday’s match against Wales, before conveniently remembering that I actually have a great-grandfather who is buried at Llandaff Cathedral.

If it turns out that the England rugby team should scrape through to the quarter finals of the World Cup, there is a reasonable chance that they will face Scotland at Twickenham and I have a fall back position there too: No Scottish ancestors, but a great love of whisky... And if that isn’t enough, I have several younger relatives with Scottish passports, which practically ensures that I qualify for my own tartan.

 Yes, it might hurt, but I am prepared for just about any result - except losing to Australia. There’s no Australian blood in my family; in fact I don’t think there are any convicts at all, unless you include a few counts of shoplifting pick-n-mix sweets in the early seventies – the evidence of which disappeared pretty quickly. 

Then there’s the French. Now I love France; I love the wine, the café culture, the food (especially the foie gras), the wine, the women (but obviously not since meeting my wife), the countryside, the mountains, the beaches and the wine. They even have some lovely racecourses. But that doesn’t mean that I have to support the admirable French trained, dual Arc-winning, Treve – especially when the flower of the English, the Derby winner Golden Horn, has been supplemented in opposition.  

I almost wrote the English Derby, but that would have been pointless. Because, while there are other Derbys (French ones, Irish ones, Kentucky ones), there really is only one that matters. It is a measure of how great we English are, that our Derby winners require no prefix. So come on Golden Horn (the selection for Sunday’s Arc De Triomphe); come on the England rugby team:  

I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips,
Straining upon the start. The game's afoot:
Follow your spirit, and upon this charge
Cry 'God for Harry, England, and Saint George!'

(Shakespeare - Henry V)